Monthly Archives: December 2008

Binkley makes a good point

dont-voteAlex Binkley for the Ontario Farmer

Missing the Point in CWB Elections
Commentators rightly zeroed in on the 59% turnout in the October federal election as a disturbing sign for the health of Canadian democracy and suggested all sorts of changes.

So what does it say when only 52% of western farmers who were eligible to vote in the recent election for Canadian Wheat Board directors bothered to return the ballots mailed to them? The CWB should be concerned about the impact on its credibility when nearly half the eligible farmers don’t vote. Continue reading

Some more election numbers

Total Ballots sent out            5586

Ballots returned                       3233

Return Rate                                 57.9%

Ballots rejected                           12

Applications to Vote              200

My thoughts on the final result

Rolf Penner- Well, as the old saying goes, close only counts when it comes to horseshoes and hand grenades. We only lost by 124 votes but we lost just the same. 

I thought we ran a darn good campaign, I knew the majority of farmers were on the choice side,  but obviously we didn’t do a good enough job in getting the vote out. 

Yes, I’m disappointed, I put a lot of work into this and I’m passionate about my belief that a farmers grain belongs to the farmer who grows it.  One day that will be true in Western Canada the way it is everywhere else but that day has once again moved further down the road than it should be. Continue reading

Election Results- By the Numbers

cwb-election-results

Toews Wins by 124 votes

For all of you who are wondering…

Click here

Today’s the day!

Rolf Penner- Today’s the day we should know who won the CWB Directors seats that were up for grabs across the prairies.  As soon as I know something I’ll be posting it here. In the mean time, even though I”m not a superstitious kind of guy, I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed.